Nebraska’s tax system is completely broken. Nebraska is the worst state in the nation for the inheritance tax, the seventh worst state for property taxes and only Wisconsin beats Nebraska in terms of the number of farm and ranch bankruptcies. By now, many property owners have figured out that last year’s big property tax relief bill, LB1107, was nothing more than a slight decrease in the amount that property taxes increased this year, and this is how things will continue to be unless we overhaul the entire system.

No small plan ever had the power to stir the soul. So, this year I introduced LR11CA and LB133 for the consumption tax. The first piece of legislation is a resolution for a constitutional amendment to change our tax system; the second is a bill to direct the legislature in how to implement the consumption tax. LB133 re-writes the tax code. Public hearings will be held at the Capitol on both pieces of legislation on February 3.

My legislation is known as the EPIC Consumption Tax Act, where the word EPIC is an acronym which stands for the elimination of Property, Income and Corporate taxes. My legislation will repeal the state income tax, the state sales tax, the state inheritance tax and all property taxes and replace them all with a consumption tax.

The consumption tax prevents double taxation. The consumption tax would tax services and new goods. Used goods would never get taxed, because goods should only get taxed once. Imagine buying a used car or a used boat and paying no taxes on the purchase!

The real beauty of the consumption tax, though, is that it prevents over-taxation. It is the one tax that the taxpayer can control. If you don’t want to pay the tax, don’t go shopping. Moreover, the consumption tax ties government taxation to the economy. The government only gets more money to spend when consumers spend more of their own money first. Alexander Hamilton favored the consumption tax above all other forms of taxation in Federalist Paper 21 precisely because it controls this kind of over-taxation. Hamilton said, “It is a signal advantage of taxes on articles of consumption that they contain in their own nature a security against excess.”

Under the consumption tax, those living at or below the federal poverty rate would make no net contributions in taxes to the state. The reason is that the consumption tax comes with a monthly allowance or pre-bate which covers a person’s consumption taxes up to the federal poverty level. This is money that the state deposits into a person’s bank account or on a smart card each month. Every person living in Nebraska would get the monthly allowance, so the state would only keep consumption taxes on what each person spends above the federal poverty rate. Because everyone would get the monthly allowance, the consumption tax is sometimes referred to as the Fair Tax.

One of the concerns often raised about the consumption tax is called border bleed. Some worry that folks living in Omaha would buy their goods in Council Bluffs in order to avoid paying Nebraska’s consumption tax. But the argument from border bleed overlooks the fact that goods in Nebraska would come with a cheaper price tag than goods in Iowa. For instance, a can of motor oil in Nebraska might sell for 95 cents without all of the hidden taxes included, giving it a final cost $1.03 with the consumption tax. However, in Iowa that same can of motor oil would sell for $1.00 because of all of the hidden taxes, and after you tack on their sales tax, the final cost to the consumer would be $1.08. So, why would folks in Omaha travel to Iowa to spend more of their hard earned money?

The consumption tax would make Nebraska the envy of the nation! The consumption tax would elevate Nebraska to being the best state in the Union for taxation. Both businesses and individuals would want to move to Nebraska because of our new tax code. As Nebraska State Senator Steve Halloran of Hastings once remarked about the consumption tax, “We would have to build a wall around Nebraska to keep the people out, and Colorado would pay for it.”

This week I will introduce a bill to move the headquarters of the Game and Parks Department to the City of Sidney. Currently, state law mandates that the headquarters for the Game and Parks Department be in the City of Lincoln. I would like to change that. So today I would like to explain why I believe this move is good for Nebraska.

First, there are no state parks located in the City of Lincoln, just as there are no state parks located in the City of Sidney. So, proximity to state parks has never been nor should it ever be used as a criteria for deciding where to locate the headquarters for the Game and Parks Department.

Second, the Game and Parks Department does a lot more than manage our state parks. Most importantly, they are responsible for managing the wildlife in Nebraska. As many of my readers know, wildlife in Western Nebraska has become a major problem. Antelope, deer, and elk herds have grown too large and are wreaking havoc on crops, fences, and even land. Many of the noxious weeds we see spreading across Western Nebraska are attributable to large and unmanaged herds of antelope.

Because those who head the Game and Parks Department live and work in Lincoln, they often seem oblivious to the problems of Western Nebraska, especially the problem of unmanaged wildlife which has been brewing for many years now. Because those who lead the Game and Parks Department never encounter uncountable antelope herds, or see the widespread damage caused by an out-of-control elk population, or get Canadian thistle growing in their yards, the old maxim rings true: “Out of sight, Out of Mind.” So, in order to bring greater awareness of what is happening to landowners in Western Nebraska, I am proposing to move those who are most responsible for managing our wildlife closer to where the problems actually exist.

Third, state parks in Western Nebraska do not get the same attention that state parks in Eastern Nebraska get. There is a huge disparity between our state parks and those in the eastern part of the state. Consider Mahoney State Park for example. Mahoney State Park has an aquatic center, an indoor playground, a treetops ropes course, an observation tower, and even an indoor rock climbing wall. In addition, the Peter Kiewit Lodge offers 40 guest rooms, many of which have balconies offering stunning views of the Platte River. None of the parks in Western Nebraska have these kinds of attractions.

The fourth reason for moving the headquarters of the Game and Parks Department to Sidney relates to money. Whenever you drive to Lincoln on I-80 and you get near Lincoln, if you roll down your window you can smell taxes. The Game and Parks Department is no different. The Game and Parks Department collects thousands of dollars in fees every year. These fees range from campsite fees to hunting and fishing license fees to park entrance fees. When these fees are collected in Western Nebraska they go straight to Lincoln. Very seldom do we ever see any of it come back our way.

When those employed by the Game and Parks Department go home at night or for the weekend, they spend their money in the City of Lincoln, not Sidney. Whenever they go to the store, go to the movies, or go out to dinner, they put their money into Lincoln’s economy, yet the City of Lincoln has very little to do with wildlife, state parks, outdoor recreation, or hunting and fishing. Consequently, it seems to me that those responsible for managing our game and parks ought to spend their hard earned dollars where Nebraska’s game and parks actually exist.

Finally, the City of Sidney still has plenty of unused office space for rent at very affordable prices. Ever since Cabela’s got bought out by Bass Pro Shops back in October 2016, many of their offices have sat empty. I can’t think of a better use of these facilities than to house personnel working for the Game and Parks Department.

The 107th Legislative Session has now begun. I will continue to serve on the Appropriations Committee, and strive to bring common sense to how we spend your money. This year I will be introducing a total of 12 bills, and today I would like to tell you about a few of them that I consider to be very important for our state.

Ever since I came to Lincoln four years ago to serve as a State Senator my number one priority has been to lower property taxes. Since this time very little has been done to deliver significant and meaningful property tax relief to the citizens of Nebraska, and the problem has only grown worse. Today Nebraska ranks as the seventh worst state for property taxes, second in the nation for farm and ranch bankruptcies, and worst in the nation for inheritance taxes.

In order to solve our tax problem I introduced two pieces of legislation on the opening day of the 107th Legislative Session. The first piece of legislation is a resolution for a constitutional amendment to be put on the ballot for the year 2022, allowing the voters of Nebraska to amend the State Constitution for the consumption tax. The second piece of legislation I introduced was a companion bill which explains how to implement the consumption tax.

The consumption tax legislation that I introduced is called the EPIC Consumption Tax Act, where the word EPIC is an acronym which stands for the Elimination of Property, Income, and Corporate taxes. The bill will repeal Nebraska’s income tax, property tax, sales tax, and inheritance tax and replace them all with a consumption tax. The consumption tax would apply to the purchasing of services and new goods, but used goods would be exempt.

By repealing these four taxes, and replacing them with a consumption tax, Nebraska will become the most attractive state to live in. The consumption tax just might cause Tesla to reconsider moving to Texas!

Another bill that I introduced last week is a bill to put our national motto, “In God We Trust” back into our public schools. Children need to know our national motto. Without this common sense legislation it won’t happen. School boards, administrators, principals and teachers have all become afraid to talk about our national motto due to numerous lawsuits from atheist groups who want to remove every semblance of God from our schools. This legislation would promote our godly heritage and remove the threat of these petty lawsuits.

The bill is LB 36, and all it requires is that K-12 public schools display a legible poster of our national motto somewhere in the school where students will see it on a daily basis. When you stop and consider all that our students see, read and learn about today in our public schools, teaching about our national motto becomes one of the most positive things we can do for our students.